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The Edward B. Greensfelder Jr.(B.S. 1959) Scholarship Fund

Ted Greensfelder passed away in 1998. His death marked the first loss to a group of roommates who formed a lifelong, collective friendship at Yale. The remaining six at that time: Tad Foote, Mike Schumann, Alki Scopelitis, Bill Ruddy, Dave Driscoll and Jim Pender, as well as the following classmates: Norm Benford, Jon Clark, Tom Freiberg, Ben Gertz, Charlie Hoyt, Dick Michel, Tom Molumphy, Alan Morrison, and Steve Umin, plus Terry Franc, Ted’s cousin and dear friend, and graduate of Brown, joined together to honor Ted’s memory by funding the scholarship.

The Greensfelder Scholarship

* Has supported a student every year since 1998.
* Employs the following criteria: a student in Davenport College who demonstrates the various qualities we all admired about Ted Greensfelder.

We also encourage the student to communicate with the Greensfelder family.

“I had the pleasure of living at Yale with the seven lifelong friends shown in this photo, taken in 1993 at Tad Foote’s daughter’s wedding. (L-R) Bill Ruddy, Alki Scopelitis, Mike Schumann, Tad Foote, Ted Greensfelder, Jim Pender and Dave Driscoll.

Jim Pender wrote to the 2018 Scholarship recipient Emmett Chan-Ran as follows:

February 1, 2018

Dear Emmett,

Congratulations on being the Edward B. Greensfelder Scholar. I enjoyed reading about your numerous skills and interests and you are well qualified for this significant honor.

Below you see a photo of seven of us who lived together in Davenport College, Class of 1959, 1380-81, Lower Court, to be exact.

We had a very unusual friendship, much like a second family.

Ted is third from the right and I am the “little guy” on his left. Three of us are still alive today (Scopelitis, Schumann and I) and the others are deceased.

When Ted Greensfelder passed away on June 6th, 1998, our roommates and several others of Ted’s many friends, decided to fund a scholarship in his memory and have continued to do so.

Please open the link and view the beautiful statement of the scholar who preceded you.

Would you please consider preparing something similar and sending it to me?

We would greatly appreciate it, as would Ted’s family.

Best,
Jim Pender

Here is the February 1, 2018 response from Emmett Chan-Ran, the 2018 scholar:

Dear Jim,

Thank you for reaching out to tell me about you and your friends’ time at Yale! My friends and I also live in the lower courtyard, currently fourth floor of entryway K, to be exact. The picture I’ve attached is of us at the Davenport cookout this past September; I’m the second from the left.

It’s very touching to hear that you considered your friendship like a second family, because that’s exactly how I feel about the people that I am lucky enough to surround myself with here. They are all such dynamic leaders, thoughtful students, and considerate friends. It’s incredible that you were all able to remain lifelong friends — I hope my friends and I are similarly able to do the same! Please find my statement below:

My time at Yale has been the singular happiest period of my life. The amazing wealth of experiences offered here, ranging from political activism to cultural enrichment, have provided me with a plethora of opportunities to grow and discover who I am as a person, student, and social change agent. Through Davenport, I’ve been privileged to have gone apple picking, seen Broadway shows, and attended College Teas with renowned scholars. Beyond enjoying the Yale experience, I’ve also been able to give back to my closest communities: I am a student representative with the Computer Science Department Student Advisory Committee working with department faculty to develop curriculum changes, an executive board member with Yale Code4Good (a student group that partners with non-profits and NGOs to promote social good), and a worker in the Davenport Dive. My parents always told me that college would be the best four years of my life — I’m going to have to let them have this one.

Again we will host tailgates starting at 10:30 in Parking Lot B behind Cox cage and for the Dartmouth night game, cocktails will start at 5pm!

George Buchanan, Charles Griffith, Ben Gertz and Al Atherton at the Yale-Harvard lacrosse game April 28, 2018, a Yale win 16-8. Onward then to win the national division 1 title a few later!

How To Participate: Classmates are enthusiastically invited to write to us at web@yale1959.org with news and material that we can communicate to class members on our website. Thank you for contributing!